Hakuba Ōike Sansō

Food taste and portion not greatBut there are supplies on the mountain, so there’s nothing to be picky about.

This is a comfortable mountain hut with a great location and a spacious tent area. Reservations are required during busy periods as there are not many people to accommodate. You can make a reservation online.There is no cell phone signal near the mountain hut. Docomo signal arrived about 5 minutes up the mountain in the direction of Korenge.Hot and cold water is free for guests.

The most disappointing hut I’ve stayed in, in Japan. Three major reasons why one chooses to stay in a hut are to guarantee a good night’s sleep, to get a nutritious meal, and to stay dry in case of inclement weather. I got none of that here.Firstly, perhaps it was a holiday weekend, but the hut chose to pack 6 people into a tiny pod meant to fit 4 people at most. They achieve this by using mattresses so narrow that I, as a small-framed Asian guy, can’t sleep upright without my elbows falling off the sides of the mattress. The pillow has to be square, just to fit. The entire arrangement was so ridiculous that a Japanese couple who roomed with us couldn’t believe what they were asked to put up with, and said “the only thing we can do now is laugh”, lol.The consequence of packing everyone shoulder to shoulder is that the pods get stuffy, and that the chance of someone snoring 20cm away from your ear is rather high. If you’ve never had the displeasure of experiencing it, know that it’s far louder than a few isolated snorers some meters away in a normal mountain hut.The hut also makes money off alcohol sales, but should keep an eye on when merry-making customers go one step too far. One party was so drunk that they were giggling/laughing the whole time after dinner, and one guy proceeded to vomit down the main hallway after having one too many drinks. While the staff quickly came to clean up, the same man continued to puke all over the toilet slippers. A fact that went entirely unnoticed by staff until the next day. I almost stepped onto the puke while heading to the toilet at night.Secondly, dinner desperately needs more protein. A thin, tiny disc of katsu really doesn’t cut it, and twice, people in my hiking party joked about asking for more meat. Again, after paying ¥15000, you’d think they could ship more meat in. At 9 other mountain huts in Japan, we’d get at least double the volume of meat, so it isn’t an impossible request. Also, for folks intending to eat lunch at the hut, note that most items sell out by 13:30, even though lunch hours last till 14:00. We had to share 3 bowls of curry among 4 hikers because we ordered at 13:34, and hikers after us settled for miso soup.Finally, there’s no separate drying room in the hut. The drying area is simply the connecting room between the bunks and the toilet, and in summer, the dryer isn’t even turned on. As a result, any wet clothes you dry there will inevitably reek of pee and whatever other nasty smells emanate from the toilet. It was so bad that I had to retire the shirt and pants I was intending to wear the next day.There are many other small niggles (e.g. no phone signal at the hut, resulting in YAMAP disconnecting. One has to walk to the sunset spot pictured below to get a modicum of signal.) But none as bad as the three issues above. The only reason why I gave one extra star was because breakfast was actually pretty good.

I used it when climbing Hakuba.I had cup noodles on the way there and a cola on the way back.The keema curry🍛 looked delicious, but I didn't have time so I gave up.

It was quite tough staying in a mountain hut for the first time⤵︎ But I was reminded of what mountain huts are like, and after hearing everyone's conversations about how popular Oike Sanso is! The curry for dinner was very delicious 😍

Oike is beautiful.It's transparent and soothing.There is a water hole at the mountain hut where you can stay hydrated.This place is popular and crowded on Saturdays and Sundays.When it gets crowded, it becomes difficult to pass each other and it becomes difficult to proceed at your own pace.I truly believe that communicating with others is important.It's tough when you can't walk at your own pace.

Thank you for your inconsiderate and sarcastic customer service. . .

I spent ten nights here. The problem was that smartphone reception was difficult (au), making it difficult to obtain information. It's a beautiful tent area.

I used it while staying in a tent. The scenery is good and the toilets are clean.It was a shame that it rained, but it cleared up for a little while in the morning, and I was able to see a flower garden spreading out in front of me and many birds flying in the sky. A salamander was relaxing in the pond.

I went there in early July, probably on a free day, and it was not summer vacation yet, so there were only a few people staying.